Salesforce Inc. $CRM Holdings Lowered by Ascent Group LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 8.6%, owning 14,662 shares worth approximately $3.998 million after selling 1,377 shares in the 2nd quarter.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares for about $531,855, while Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares for $865,844, reflecting varied insider trading activity.
• Salesforce reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.91, beating estimates, alongside a dividend announcement of $0.416 per share scheduled for payout on October 9th.

Ascent Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,662 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,377 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in Salesforce by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,898 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $110,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,377 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $806,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $531,855.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,815,657,152.98. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,000 shares of company stock worth $20,357,213 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Wall Street Zen downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $240.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $228.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $246.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.19. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.13%.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.

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